Goals have been very hard to come by for the Anaheim Ducks this season, but at least for one night the Ducks found some snarl and goals. A relatively even start quickly turned into a controlling effort from the Ducks over the Philadelphia Flyers.
After the Flyers tied the game at one, the shot totals and territorial play became grossly uneven. The Ducks outshot the Flyers, 34-12, from that point through to the end of the second period. The score was still tight, but an early third-period goal by Corey Perry gave the Ducks the lead. A few minutes later, a shorthanded 2-on-o goal put the game out of reach from Philadelphia.
Game Flow
Goals:
0 – 1. PPG, Getzlaf (Vatanen, Perry). PHI on-ice: 14, 3, 55
1 – 1. Voracek (Schultz, Couturier). PHI on-ice: 14, 17, 93, 3, 55
2 – 1. PPG, Raffl (Read, Couturier). PHI on-ice: 12, 14, 24, 23, 82
2 – 2. PPG, Perry (Getzlaf, Maroon). PHI on-ice: 76, 78, 22, 23
3 – 2. Perry (Vatanen). PHI on-ice: 17, 28, 93, 22, 82
4 – 2. SHG, Horcoff (Cogliano, Stoner). PHI on-ice: 10, 17, 28, 93, 53
Forwards
It was a forgettable night for most every Flyers forward line. The Claude Giroux line was mostly removed from the game by the Ryan Kesler line for the Ducks. Additionally, Giroux really got killed on faceoffs, which is unusual for him.
The Sean Couturier line did score a goal on a friendly bounce, but also failed to sustain pressure, mostly against the Ryan Getzlaf line.
On the lower lines, Pierre-Edouard Bellemare had a similarly awful night in the faceoff circle, and struggled on possession as a result.
Defense
The Flyers' defensive pairings were across the board mediocre. With all the talk of Mark Streit returning, the Flyers lineup went the other way with Michael Del Zotto being a late scratch with an upper-body injury. This disrupted the Flyers top pair, and Radko Gudas did not fare as well with Nick Schultz.
Ultimately, however, it was the Flyers special teams that led to the loss. The feeble Ducks power play outplayed the Flyers's unit. This was compounded when Shayne Gostisbehere and the Flyers gave up an ugly shorthanded goal that sealed the win foe the Ducks.
Marc Naples is a contributor to Flyerdelphia and Sports Talk Philly. Follow him on Twitter@SuperScrub47.